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Sunday, June 17, 2018

June 17 2018. The 2018 edition of the Boston Marathon, held on Patriot’s
Day, Monday, April 16th, had the most daunting set of conditions the
race has thrown at its competitors in some time, maybe ever. Sometimes, as in
2017, it has been too hot. That was not the problem this time. The temperature
hovered just above freezing when the Elite Women started at 9:30 AM, and the
mercury still only indicated 42 degrees when Des Linden finished the winner,
just after noontime. The runners battled consistent 25 mph headwinds with gusts
into the lower 30’s and rain.The conditions were the same for the Elite Men. Like the Women, the race fell to a
surprise winner, Yuki Kawauchi, as the top elite runners fell by the wayside or
dropped back.

Marathoners Braving the Elements at the 2018 Boston MarathonPhoto Credit-bostonmagazine.com

Some of the older Masters Runners, who started in later waves,
saw the temperatures rise almost to 45 and the headwinds dip somewhat below 20
mph for the last dozen miles or so but, of course, they were subjected to the
conditions for a longer period of time. Apparently a remarkable 95% of the
runners overall were able to overcome the odds and finish despite risk of
hypothermia. Everyone who finished the race performed remarkably well and will
have the story to tell for years to come. My focus will be on the top US Masters
finishers, although I acknowledge top finishers from other countries.As is my custom, I report age-grades also,
but the conditions made for slow times and those slow times mean low age-grade scores.
Be careful in comparing to other races
and/or to Boston in other years. I start with the Overall Masters contest and then
consider the Age Division contests.[Disclaimer: Whether discussing the overall results or age division contests, the coverage may suggest a race where all of the runners are aware of other competitors at all times. Under trying conditions, runners in later waves may wind up passing those in earlier waves. Even if competitors start in the same wave, they may never spot the other competitors at the start. In some cases, competitors may be keenly aware of one another but in marathons, even more than at shorter races, the main competition is often inside one's head.]

Overall Masters. Ordinarily
one would just pencil in the name Abdi
Abdirahman, before the start and feel confident of one’s pick. But on a day
when many elite runners were falling by the wayside, there was some doubt for a
while. But Abdi never faltered, and had another remarkable ‘top 15’ finish
overall, and a comfortable victory margin in the Masters Overall competition
and the 40-44 Age Division. Nonetheless, it was probably the first time in a
while that another Masters contender actually took time out of Abdi’s lead over
the 2nd half of the Marathon.

The other chief contenders were: Charlie Brenneman from Rocklin CA, near
Sacramento; Shaun Frandsen, from
Kirkland WA, near Seattle; Jorge
Maravilla, from Mill Valley CA, north of San Francisco; and Matthew Wolpert from Ogden UT. John Sharp from Glasgow, Scotland,
finished 5th in 2:36:08, with Bryan
Rusche of Toronto, Canada in 6th at 2:37:32. New to the Masters
ranks, Brenneman had a 2:28:35 in California’s Two Cities marathon and a
2:32:47 in the 2016 edition of Grandma’s Marathon. Frandsen took the Masters
win at the California International Marathon last December in 2:28:47 and a
2:31:50 2nd place Masters finish at the Eugene Marathon. Maravilla
is also new to the Masters ranks; in 2017 he ran an impressive 2:24: 27 at
Boston and was the overall winner of the San Francisco Marathon in 2:28:23. With
a 2:50:21 Marine Corps Marathon time and a 2:42:37 at the CIM, Wolpert would
ordinarily not have been considered a threat for a top 5 Masters finish. But this was no ordinary day.

Next to Abdi, Maravilla ran the most aggressive race,
hitting the 10K mark in 33:18 and the half way mark in 1:11:29. That was 5
minutes off Abdi’s pace but two minutes ahead of his closest pursuer, Frandsen,
who covered the first 10K in 34:14 and clocked 1:13:36 at the halfway mark.
Brenneman ran 1:16:55 for the first half and enjoyed a 25 second lead over
Wolpert. Maravilla continued to build the gap back to Frandsen through 30K when
his lead stood at 2:21. From there on, Frandsen slowly clawed his way back; at
35K the gap was under 2 minutes and by the 40K mark was about a minute. But was
there enough race course left? Perhaps not on an ordinary day, but this was no
ordinary day. Frandsen found he could still clock close to 4 minutes per
kilometer while Maravilla could no longer stay under 4:30 kilometer pace. He
had battled the elements and defeated them but could not quite hold off the
determined Frandsen who took 2nd to Abdi in 2:34:56, a mere 6
seconds ahead of Maravilla. Frandsen added this 2nd place finish to his Masters
win at the California International Marathon last December. Brenneman was 45 seconds back in 4th, with Wolpert 5thAmerican in 2:37:43.

In the Women’s
race international Masters runners took 1st and 3rd
through 5th places. Krista
Duchene from Brantford Canada, took 3rd overall and won the
Masters race in 2:44:20. She was followed by Jessica Draskau Petersson from Gentofte Denmark in 3rd
at 2:57:29; Sarah Dudgeon, of
Wallingford UK, 4th in 3:00:28; and Angela Switt, Toronto Canada, 5th in 3:00:47.

Like Abdi in the Men’s race, most would expect Dot McMahan to dominate the Women’s
race and, like Abdi, she did not disappoint, racing to a 2:48:57, good for 12th
overall and first American Masters athlete by nearly 10 minutes. Other American
contenders for a top finish included: Anne
Cushman, from Rancho Cordova California, near Sacramento; Brenda Hodge, of York, Pennsylvania,
south of Harrisburg; NancyJurgens, of Apex North Carolina, near
Raleigh; Shannon Siragusa, from
Simsbury Connecticut, northwest of Hartford; and Dara Steele-Belkin from Atlanta Georgia.

Dot McMahan won the Masters Title at the 2017 TCS NYC MarathonPhoto Credit: NY Road Runners

Last year Cushman took 2nd Masters at the Santa
Rosa Marathon in 3:05:54, and then was 9th Masters at the CIM in
2:58:53. Whether due to the warm weather in Boston in 2017 or for some other
reason, Hodge only managed a 3:13:27. Later in the year she clocked 3:00:16 at
Grandma’s and cracked 3 hours at the TCS NYC Marathon in November with a
2:59:23. New to the Masters ranks, Jurgens ran 3:07:47 in the 2016 Richmond
Marathon at age 38 and then last year, at age 39, ran 2:59:49 at the Kiawah
Island Golf Resort Marathon. Siragusa finished 21st in her first try
at Boston as a Masters athlete in 3:09:35, but her time skyrocketed in the warm
conditions of 2017 when she ran 3:46:53. A solid 3:05:20 effort for 2nd
masters in the Eversource Hartford Marathon suggested that, in the absence of a
hot race, she should be competitive. In her first race as a Masters athlete at
Boston in 2015, Steele-Belkin finished 15th with a 2:59:44 effort. The
next year she got to battle 20+ mph headwinds although the temps, unlike 2018,
were moderate, in the 50’s and there was no rain. Still, her time ballooned to
3:18:58. But that experience may have helped prepare her, if anything can, for
the near gale conditions of 2018. Despite the warm conditions in 2017,
Steele-Belkin improved to 3:10:24. In November of 2016 she clocked a 3:00:49 at
the Richmond Marathon, showing she still had the possibility of cracking three
hours in a Marathon.

The race was really tight over the first 10K, with Hodge
leading at 41:23, followed by Cushman at 42:13, with Jurgens 9 seconds back. Siragusa
and Steele-Belkin were another 12 and 14 seconds back. Jurgens, Siragusa and
Steele-Belkin all pushed past Cushman in the next 10K, but Hodge continued to
pull away, enjoying a lead of over a minute on the rest of the field. By the
halfway mark it was Jurgens leading the chasers at 1:29:16 with Siragusa only 9
seconds back, and Steele-Belkin another 28 seconds back, but now 15 seconds
ahead of Cushman. Hodge continued to build her lead as she was two minutes
ahead of Jurgens at the 35K mark. Jurgens pushed the gap with Siragusa up to 31
seconds by the 35K mark but just as with the Men’s race, Siragusa found a well
of strength to draw on, as she closed with Jurgens and established a gap of 31
seconds by the end of the race. Hodge finished 2nd American in 2:58:50,
with Siragusa 3rd American in 3:01:31. Jurgens finished a half minute back as 4th American with Steele-Belkin two minutes further back, and Cushman next in 3:04:44.

40-44. The Overall Race description above gives the details of how the race unfolded. The
age division and the overall podium for the Men was the same; for Women it
differed in that Hodge took the 45-49 crown, allowing Nancy Jurgens 40 Apex NC to take 3rd in the 40-44 division
with a 3:02:02 76.70%.

45-49. The top contenders were all
American, John Barry, Brett Bernacchi,
Chris Hartshorn, Mark Hunkele, and Chris
Knorzer. Barry’s Athlinks profile
is private; all I could find was a 56:53, finishing 3rd in the
division in the American Tobacco Trail 10 Miler (2:38:39 age grade equivalent). He had apparently not raced at aboston in the 12014-2017 period either. Bernacchi ran a half dozen half marathons in 2017, with the fastest being
1:15:51 at the BMO Harris Bank Mesa-Phoenix HM. In 2016 he ran 2:40:04 at the
GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon in Canada. Hartshorn has run the Boston
Marathon several times since turning 40. His fastest time was 2:27:58 in 2013.
In 2016 when runners encountered a double-digit headwind, his time rose to
2:37:46. Hunkele ran 2:52:58 at the 2015 edition of the Boston Marathon, a day
with light rain and double digit headwinds. He ran 2:50:51 later that year at
the Chicago Marathon. Knorzer ran 2:35:50 at the 2016 California International
Marathon and 2:42:46 at the 2017 Big Sur International Marathon. Knorzer threw
caution to the wind and went out quite fast, hitting the 10K in 35:42. He had
over a minute on Hartshorn, who had over a half minute on Barry. Bernacchi was
taking a more cautious approach with a 38:42 10K,while Hunkele apparently came
across in 40:08. After the 15K split, Hunkele’s splits are either missing or
obviously wrong (e.g. 30K 3:09:03). He is listed as having a valid finishing
time of 2:47:11, good for 5th place. Knorzer was still going strong
at the halfway point, clocking 1:17:39; Hartshorn was now 1:15 back. Barry came
across the mat in 1:19:28 with Barry almost two minutes back. Knorzer finally
started to feel the effects fo the weather and the early pace. By the 30K mark,
Hartshorn and Barry had passed him and opened up a lead of nearly a minute,
1:53:29 for Hartshorn to 1:53:38 to 1:54:21. Bernacchi was able to passed Knorzer
before the 35K mark and that’s the way things remained until the end. Hartshorn
took the 45-49 win, with Barry over a minute back in 2nd and
Bernacchi two more minutes back in 3rd. Knorzer was just off the
podium in 2:45:16, a terrific time considering the conditions and his early
pace. He was followed 2 minutes later by Hunkele and in another minute Moore.

In the Women’s contest, Joanna Bourke Martignoni, an Austrian
national, took the win in 2:53:19, and Chunhua
Liu, a Chinese national living in the Greater Boston area, finished 4th
in 3:10:47.

The other
main contenders were all US citizens: Ellen
Basile, Lisa Bentley, Brenda Hodge, and Suzanne Rinehart. Basile clocked
3:07:52 in the 2016 BOA Chicago Marathon but had otherwise kept her focus on
Half Marathons and below. She ran 1:26:05 in the AirBNB Brooklyn HM and 1:05:40
in the New Balance Bronx 10 Miler. A 1:26:53 in the UA NYC HM left her prepped
for Boston. In 2017 Bentley ran a 1:23:04
Half Marathon in Orlando, and a 3:02:23 in Boston. Hodge, in 2017, ran 3:13:27
in the Boston heat, but followed that with a 3:00:16 at Grandma’s and a 2:59:23
at the TCS NYC Marathon in November. Primarily a triathlete, Rinehart has
gradually become more comfortable on the roads. In 2015 she ran 1:37 and 1:43
in two Half Marathons; in 2016 she tried Boston and ran 3:38:31. Apparently
heat was more to her liking than headwinds as she ran again in 2017, clocking 3:28:54.
When the race started, Hodge had the more aggressive approach, covering the
first 10K in 41:23, with 49 seconds on Bentley, another minute or so on Basile,
and 3 minutes to Rinehart. There were no major changes by the half way mark, with
Hodge crossing the mat in 1:27:48, a minute and a half in front of Bentley,
with Basile now only half a minute back from Bentley.

Lisa Bentley at Boston in 2014 won her age divisionPhoto Credit: triathlonmagazine.com

Rinehart was now over 3
minutes behind Basile. Hodge kept her pace going, just forging a bigger and
bigger lead over her American rivals. Basile, meanwhile, kept chipping away at
Bentley’s lead, cutting it to 11 seconds by the 30K and then passed with force
in the next 5K. At 35K, Basile had a minute and a half margin, which she pushed
to over 3 minutes by the finish. Rinehart closed well, taking over two minutes
out of Bentley’s lead from 30K to Boylston Street, but ran out of race course.

Daniel Descharnais of Quebec, Canada
and Alberto Manzanares Elias of Spain finished 4th and 5th
in the race in 2:51:56 and 2:51:57.

The top
Americans in contention included 2 of the BAA’s finest Masters Runners, Andrew Gardiner and Peter Hammer, along with Douglas Baldwin of St. Paul MN and John Hill of Pleasant Hill CA. Baldwin
has run 2:56:30 in the 2016 edition of the Boston Marathon and 2:48:32 last
year. In the fall of those years he ran 2:48:59 and 2:43:26 in the Medtronic
Twin Cities Marathon so his times improved consistently from 2016 to 2017. Hill
has two prior Boston Marathon times in the last few years. He ran 2:52:45 in
the 2014 edition and 2:47:06 in the 2016 edition. In December he has run the
California International Marathon, which tends to be faster than Boston. His
times have included: 2:41:44, 2:45:44, and 2:44:45 the last three years.
Although not a regular, Hammer does run the Boston Marathon every few years.
His last two were a 2:45:46 in 2012 and 2:37:20 in 2015. This may be Gardiner’s
first Marathon; I have not found other Marathon results for him. Hammer tuned
up with a 1:14:44 in the new Bedford HM in March and Gardiner tuned up with a
51:39 in the Boston Tune-Up 15K.

Hill and
Gardiner threw caution to the wind, covering the first 10K in 36:00 and 36:17
respectively. Baldwin was about a minute behind Hill, with Hammer taking a more
measured approach to things, over two minutes back from Baldwin. Hill crossed
the halfway mat in 1:17:22; Gardiner was now a full minute back, with Baldwin
another minute back and Hammer now well over 3 minutes behind Baldwin. Gardiner
whittled away at Hill’s lead ever so slightly between there and the 35K mark,
reducing the margin to under a minute. Baldwin still had 3 minutes on Hammer. By
40K, Gardiner was within 38 seconds of Hill but his only hope of catching Hill would
depend on Hill falling way off his pace and that did not happen. Hill kept it
together all the way to Boylston Street, keeping Gardiner 15 seconds back at
the end. Hammer, by the 40K mark, was only a minute and a half back and now
Baldwin was suffering, as so many of the Open Elite athletes ahead of him had. It
took Baldwin almost 12 minutes to cover the last two kilometers; it must have
been very painful in every respect. Hammer had no such difficulties though
covering the last two kilometers in 9 minutes and claiming the 3rd
American spot.

The top 4
contenders were all US citizens including: Corina
Canitz, Lina Garcia, Kim Ionta, and Christine
Morgenroth. In 2015 Canitz ran 2:56:50 at the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon
and in 2017, 2:49:26 in the KP Napa Valley Marathon; in 2016 she ran 2:51:33 at
Boston. Garcia ran 3:11:11 in the 2015 TCS NYC Marathon and 3:07:26 in the 2016
Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Ionta ran the very warm 2017 Boston Marathon
in 3:28:29; three weeks later she ran 3:24:02 in the Providence Marathon. Last
October she ran the Lowell HM in 1:28:49 suggesting room for improvement with
her Marathon times. Morgenroth ran 3:19:54 at Boston and in the fall 3:14:11 at
the TCS NYC Marathon. She tuned up for
Boston with a 1:31:30 at the United Airlines NYC Half.

Canitz was
the aggressor, hitting the 10K mark in 41:59, with a 2 minute lead on Garcia and
nearly 5 minutes on Ionta. Morgenroth’s chip did not register at 5K nor 10K but
judging by 15K and 20K splits was, most likely between Garcia and Ionta,
probably closer to Garcia. Canitz showd no sign of giving into the weather,
crossing the halfway point in 1:31:56 with a minute and a half lead on Garcia. Morgenroth
was now well over 3 minutes back from Garcia and Ionta had cut her gap up to
Morgenroth from over a minute at 15K to just 36 seconds. Canitz’s pace slowed
considerably over the next 9 kilometers with the result that Garcia had closed
to within a half-minute by the 30K clock. Ionta, in that same space had passed
Morgenroth and now enjoyed a lead of 16 seconds. Canitz’s struggles continued
over the next ten kilometers which took her over 48 minutes but now Garcia was
struggling even more, and the gap grew to well over a minute again.

Corina Canitz on her way to a 2:51:33 at the 2016 Boston MarathonPhoto Credit: muisephoto.wordpress.com

Ionta
pulled steadily away from Morgenroth and now, at 40K enjoyed a two-minute lead.
And that is the way they finished, all conquering the elements to finish
1-2-3-4: Canitz, Garcia, Ionta, and Morgenroth, two minutes behind Ionta.

The top four American Masters Runners who contested the race
were: Tony Bleull, Jeff Duyn, Doug
Fernandez, and Scott Sneddon. Bleul
has two recent outings at Boston. In 2015 he ran 2:58:22 I the tough 50-54
division where he was not in the top 50, and last year in the warm conditions,
his time ballooned to 3:10:10. .Last October he ran considerably faster inth e
Grand Rapids Marathon, 2:52:27. Duyn has run Boston twice previously, clocking
2:50:05 in 2015 and 2:51:11 in last year’s heat, capturing 2nd and 4th
respectively in his age division. A regular on the age division podium at
Boston since 2014, Fernandez clocked 2:34:43 to finish 2nd in the
50-54 division in 2014; 2:47:37 when he finished 9th on a rainy and
blustery day in 2015; 2:50:55 for a 4th place age division place in
2016; and a win last year in 2:44:52. Fernandez runs several marathons in most
years. This was apparently Sneddon’s first go at Boston, at least in the last
few years. He ran 2:44:35 at the 2016 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. Fernandez
tookoff with the horn, like the true
Champion he is, clocking 38:11 for the first 10K, leaving Bleull a minute back,
followed a half minute later by Duyn, and it was another half minute back to
Sneddon.

Fernandez, no stranger to Boston’s challenges, backed off a bit in the
next 11K and hit the halfway mark in a more moderate 1:24:01. Bleuell had
closed considerably, crossing the mat only 18 seconds back. Sneddon and Duyn
were just over a minute back from Fernandez so things were tight! The early
pace may have drained Fernandex as it did many of the elite Open runners, and
he found both Sneddon and Duyn passing him in the next 9K. Duyn crossed the 30K
timing mat in 2:02:11, followed only 5 seconds later by Sneddon. Fernandez was
now over half a minute back from those two, but had built his lead over Bleuell
to almost 40 seconds. Duyn pulled away from Sneddon and Sneddon continued to
put space between him and Fernandez. Duyn took the win by 1:18 and Sneddon
claimed 2nd with almost 2 and a half minutes on Fernandez.

Fernandez
hung tough all the way to the finish to claim his 2nd consecutive
podium finish under two very different Boston challenges. Bleuell clocked 2:59:19,
a terrific effort on a tough day; breaking 3 hours in 2018, at age 55, will be
a worthy story for years to come.

The top American challengers for the podium included: Terri Cassel, Sue George, Heather Knight Pech,
and Doreen McCoubrie. Cassel ran
3:27:37 in 2014 but had an unhappy race in the warm conditions last year,
finishing in 4:10:49. She came to Boston hoping to enjoy a better outing in
2018. As prep, she captured her age division at the Aramco Half in Houston in
January and the Cowtown Half in Ft. Worth TX in 1:28:38 and 1:29:46. Cassel was
ready to roll. George runs Boston on occasion. In 2016 she ran the New Bedford
Half as prep in 1:36:55 and Boston in 3:48:11. She ran the TCS NYC Marathon in
3:50:59 later that year. She took some time off from Marathons and was ready to
try again this spring. She won her age group at the Fitbit Miami Half in 1: 35:06
in late January, and then took age division titles at a 30K and a 20 Miler in early
and late March in 2:18:03 and 2:29:50. The 30K time is age-grade equivalent to
a 3:19 Marathon. Last year Peck and McCoubrie went 1-2 in 3:10:30 and 3:13:56
in the heat; how would they fare in rainy and blustery conditions? McCoubrie
ran 3:16:54 in 2016 also; she did not appear to run a prep race any further
than an 8K. Cassel and McCoubrie are teammates on the Athena Track Club that
actively participates in and typically wins the 50 and up division in USATF’s
Masters Grand Prix circuit.

George was a minute behind them.
That set the pattern for the race as each slowed over the course of the race
but relative pace remained the same. Gaps grew larger through the race except
that Cassel struggled a bit more toward the end than George did, so Cassel’s
lead shrunk from over 3 minutes at the 30K mark to just under 1 minute at the
finish. In the end it was Pech with the repeat win in 3:10:15, 15 seconds
faster than last year. McCoubrie again took 2nd, 7 minutes back this
year, and Cassel 3rd American another 7 minutes further back. George crossed the line 55 seconds later.

The primary contenders, all US citizens included Charlie Muse, Kevin O’Brien, Roger Sayre,
Doug Steedman, and Michael Young.
Muse ran the 2016 TCS NYC Marathon in2:59:10
and followed that with a 7th divisional finish in 3:09:14 at Boston
the next spring in the heat. He tuned up for Boston this year by running 1:25:22
at the UA NYC Half, his fastest half marathon in the last few years. O’Brien
finished 16th in the division last year in Boston with a 3:04:52.
That improved considerably over his 2016 run where he clocked in at 3:20:36,
and his 2015 race in 3:19: 21. The warmth must have agreed with him. Sayre is
one of America’s top Masters runners at distances up through a Half Marathon.
In 2014 he tried a Trail Marathon in Alaska, taking the age division win in
3:15:51. Subsequently he ran a lot of half marathons and near-half marathons on
the roads and trails. In 2017 he ran 2:58:10, at age 59, at the Colorado Marathon.
[Like many Rocky Mountain races, it is probably slower due to high altitude but
faster due to a steady elevation drop of over 1000 feet. This one, because the
gradient is gradual, is probably faster than an out and back nearer to sea
level.] Like Sayre, Steedman has focused more on the shorter distance races.
But he ran the California International Marathon in 2013 in 3:01:34 and in 2016
in 3:04:44, and in 3:02:41 in 2017, and the Edinburgh Marathon (Scotland) in
2015 in 3:16:32. The CIM is definitely a fast race, given its elevation loss from
366’ above sea level to 26’ above. Young has run lots of other Marathons but
has been a regular every year at Boston at least since 2010 when he finished 345th
in the 50-54 division in 3:24:03. In 2013 he ran 3:00:43 to finish 25th
in the 55-59 division. The next year he ran 5 seconds faster and finished one
place higher, no doubt vowing to come back better prepared next year. In 2015
he ran 2:54:25 and finished 7th. But Boston knocks you around a bit.
The next year he was back just above 3 hours and the same the year after
although, having graduated to 60-64, took 2nd in the division; it
was also very warm so times were slower. What would 2018 hold for Young?

Young went out the fastest at 41:14 for the 1st
10K, with Steedman a half minute back, and Sayre tracking him another 30
seconds back. O’Brien was a minute back from Sayre and Muse 40 seconds back
from O’Brien. Little changed from there to the halfway mark except that the
gaps got a little bigger. Young hit it in 1:27:33 with a 6 and a half minute
spread back across the other chasers to Muse in5th at 1:34:06. At the 35K mat,
Young had a 2 minute lead on Steedman who had nearly three minutes on Sayre.
Muse was now less than 4 minutes back from Sayre and 3 minutes ahead of O’Brien.
Young ad Muse could still cover the 5K from 35K to 40K in about 22 minutes but
the conditions had eroded the speed of the others. Muse took almost 5 minutes
out of Steedman’s lead in that 5K span and pulled within 2 minutes of Sayre. Young
and Muse were both able to clock 9:45 for the final 2 kilometers in taking 1-2
in 2:59:53 and 3:09:05. Like so many of the Open Elite runners, Steedman and
Sayre were spent, but they were tough and finished, even though those last 2
kilometers were probably the slowest kilometers they had run in a race in a long
time.

Doug Steedman competing at the 2015 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships in San FranciscoPhoto: Mike Scott

Steedman’s pace fell off more than Sayre’s did , but Steedman took 3rd
with 46 seconds to spare. Sayre was 4th in 3:12:41, three minutes
ahead of O’Brien.

Canadians Elizabeth Waywell and Lucie Rochon took 1st and 3rd
in this division in 3:20:18 and 3:30:19.

The top American contenders were Becky Backstrom, Cory Benson, Karen Kunz, Maggie Mason, and Katherine Wild. Backstrom had run
Boston from time to time, in 2008 when she ran 3:04:50 to win the 50-54 division
and had a repeat win two years later in 3:03:50. In 2013 she finished just off
the 55-59 podium in 3:06:45. She won the 55-59 division at the Green River Marathon
in 2017 in 3:24:15 and prepped for Boston with a Hot Chocolate 15K in 1:07:08
in Seattle in March. Benson ran Boston in 2015, clocking 3:40:12, finishing 35th
in the 55-59 division. She had an off year in 2016, running just over 4 hours
but redeemed herself the following year with a 7th place division
finish in 3:45:39. Kunz ran 3:53:08 at Boston in 2014, finishing 84th
in the 55-59 division. A 3:33:35 in 2016 netted her a 4th place in
the 60-64 division. 2017 was Kunz’s disaster year where her time ballooned to
well over 4 hours. Vowing to redeem herself, she was back in 2018 for another
try. Mason ran Boston in 3:29:57 in 2014, finishing 17th in 55-59.
In the interim she has run the California International Marathon in times from
3:19 to 3:23 and was now back to try Boston again. In 2011 Wild ran the
Portland Marathon in 3:38:27 and in 2015 ran the TCS NYC Marathon in 3:52:33.
In May of 2017 she ran the Eugene Marathon in 3:35:55 and she was ready for
another Boston run. Backstrom started out at a brisk, but measured pace,
crossing the 10K mat in 46:22. She had 3 minutes on Kunz and Mason, only 2 seconds
apart. Wild was a minute behind them with Benson another minute back in 51:10. At
the halfway mark Backstrom was still clicking off the miles and had opened up a
6-minute gap between her and Kunz, who had nearly a minute lead on Mason.

Wild
was a minute and a half behind Mason but now just had a 7 second lead on Benson.
Backstrom continued strong all the way to the finish, clocking 3:22:32 as first
American and 2nd overall in the division. Kunz continued to lead
Wild but her lead was shrinking, from 3 minutes at the 25K to 1:13 by the 35K
mat. Wild, in the meantime, closed on Mason between 30 and 35K and at the 35K
mat had a 9 second edge. Despite Wild’s best efforts, Kunz ran strong to the
tape crossing as 2nd American with just 14 seconds to spare. Benson
closed to within 15 seconds of Mason by the 40K mat but then Mason found her
stride and kept the 4th place American finish in 3:39:27 to Benson’s
3:39:53.

The top 4 Americans were Martin Keibel, Alan Pemberton, Patrick Rupel, and James Wilson. A true Marathon Man,
Keibel has run Boston every year since 2013 and several others each year. In
2013 he finished 7th in the 60-64 division with a 3:07:10. He ran
3:18:30 the next year and then skied to 3:41:56 in the rainy, windy conditions
of 2015. After returning to a more normal time of 3:22:33 in 2016, his time
climbed again, to 3:43:53, when the conditions turned warm in 2017. How did he
cope with 2018 with harsher winds than in 2015? Pemberton ran 3:12:41 in the
rain and wind of Boston in 2015. Rupel finished 6th in the 60-64
division at Boston 2013 with a 3:05:29. The next year he won the division in
2:59:08. Could he return 4 years later to take the 65-69 title? Wilson finished
19th in 60-64 in Boston in 2016 in 3:18:40 and came back the next
year to run 3:36:58 and finish 91st in the same division with the
warm conditions. On e would think Rupel would be the favorite but it was not a
day to favor the favorite. Keibel rolled past the 10K mat in 44:21 with Rupel a
half minute back and Pemberton a minute and a half back from Rupel. Wilson’s
chip did not register but based on 5K and 15K splits, Wilson was between Rupel
and Pemberton, probably closer to Rupel. As the only other split where Wilson’s
chip did not register was the Halfway mark, I will report the 20K instead. At
that point Keibel clocked 1:29:25 and his lead over Rupel was down to 21
seconds; it would shrink to 16 by the halfway mark. Wilson was nearly two
minutes behind Rupel and nearly two minutes ahead of Pemberton. After closing
up on Keibel by the halfway mark, Rupel ran into some trouble and lost everything
he had gained and more by 25K. it was that kind of day. By 30K Keibel’s lead
was up to almost a minute. But then it started coming down again as Keibel
slowed in the later stages after battling the elements so long. Rupel sped up
in the 5k from 35K to 40K and actually passed Keibel just before the 40K mat
and at that point was 3 seconds ahead. But Keibel showed some extra grit as he
rallied for the final 2K and came home the division winner by 22 seconds—What a
race! It’s a shame they could not both win. Wilson came in 5 minutes later;
Pemberton cut into Wilson’s lead a bit but was a minute and a half back at the
finish.

The top 2
finishers in the division were Annie
Pedersen of Denmark and Chile’s Rut
Guzman Aguayo in 3:55:15 and 4:03:24

The top 4 American finishers included Kristi Berg, Alyn Park, Sharon Vaughn, and Shuko Yamane. Berg has run lots of marathons over the years, but I
cannot find any recent Boston Marathon attempts. She won the 60-64 division at
the 2014 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in 3:46:42 and then last September at
age 64 shew took 3rd in the 60-64 division in 4:05:51. Park finished
2nd last year at Boston in this division in 3:49:08. I cannot find
any marathons for Vaughn until October 2016 when she finished 34th
in the 60-64 division at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 4:24:17. In
April 2017, she ran 3:33:58 to win the 65-69 division in the Big Sur
International Marathon. But there must have been some problem that forced them
to shorten the race because Athlinks lists it as being 21.0 miles, not 26.2.
Yamane runs lots of marathons including Boston. In 2014 she ran 4:26:11 to
finish 109th in the 60-64 division. In 2016 she was back, running
4:10:45 to take 63rd in the division. She came back again next year
to take 21st in the division in 3:56:18. Now she was getting
somewhere!

Park started out like she expected to move up from 2nd
last year to 1st this year, crossing the 10K mat in 54:49. Two
minutes later, Vaughn sped past the clock, followed 45 seconds later by Yamane;
Berg was nearly 2 minutes further back. Although Park and Vaughn were both
slowed by the elements, they maintained their paces well so that Park gradually
pulled away for a 4 minute edge over Vaughn at the finish and Vaughn kept the
rest of the field well behind her, claiming 2nd US finisher by nearly
4 minutes. Yamane and berg had quite the see saw battle though as Berg
gradually cut down Yamane’s lead from 1:10 at 20K to 11 seconds at the 35K mat.
Surprisingly or not considering they were past the most serious hils, both sped
up from 35K to 40K but Yamane sped up more. Berg cut her pace from 6:11 per
kilometer to 5:56, but Yamane lowered hers from 6:17 to 5:50. And that increased
the gap between them back up to 16 seconds in favor of Yamane. Yamane kept it
up all the way to the finish,taking the 3rd spot by 45 seconds—quite
a duel!

Albert Wieringa, a long-time resident of Florida but
still a Dutch citizen and Sweden’s Björn
Suneson finished in3rd and 4th in 3:50:07 and 3:53:10. Wieringa
won the Age Division last year in 3:29:38.

The top American contenders were Thomas Claflin, Gene Dykes, David Howey, and Byron Mundy. A regular at Boston in recent years, in 2014, Claflin
finished 83rd in the 65-69 division in 3:59:02. The following year
was his high point in the division, finishing 41st in 3:47:36. In
2016 he ran 3:59:01 to finish 94th in 65-69; his 4:34:58 in 2017 led
to 254th place in his last year in 65-69. Dykes has also been a regular
at Boston; in 2014 Dykes’s 3:09:04 left him 3rd overall (1st
American). After taking 2015 off, Dykes won the following two years in 3:09:56
and then 3:09:35. Eight days before the Boston Marathon this year, Dykes ran in
the Rotterdam Marathon and took down the US 70-74 Marathon record, cracking the
3-hour barrier in the process with a 2:57:43. One would have thought that would
rule him out for Boston but not so. Howey finished 9th overall (5th
American) at Boston in 3:30:08 in 2015 and finished 7th (4th
American) in 2016 in 3:24:04. In November 2017 he ran 3:30:14 in the Harrisburg
Marathon. Another regular at Boston, Mundy ran 3:49:57 to finish 57th
in 65-69. The following year it was a 3:30:20 for 11th. Mundy ran
almost as fast in 2017, clocking 3:34:33 for another 11th place. Dykes
should either be a strong favorite because of his speed in past Boston
Marathons or a non-factor with heavy legs after running a fast Marathon 8 days
before Boston. Which would it be?

Dykes had no doubt in his mind which it would be as he
passed the 10K mat in 43:25, with a 4-minute lead on Mundy and a 5-minute lead
on Howey. Claflin, perhaps wary of the weather was another 3 and a half minutes
back from Howey. Considering the weather conditions, one would have to conclude
that running two marathons in 8 days quite agrees with Dykes. He sped through
the half marathon in 1:33:47 and took the win in 3:16:20. It was almost a half
hour before another runner in the division finished. By the halfway mark, Howey
had passed Mundy and enjoyed a lead of over a minute, passing the mat in
1:43:19. Claflin was another 7 minutes back and appeared to be no threat for
the 3rd American spot. By the time they got into their 2nd
hour on the course, the elements were wearing down Claflin, Howey, and Mundy.
It took Mundy nearly an hour to traverse the 10K from 25 to 35; Claflin took 2
seconds less and Howey did a bit better, keeping it down to around 55 minutes.
From there both How3ey and Mundy slowed further but, surprisingly, Claflin
managed a quicker pace and pulled within 2 minutes of Mundy by 40K, slipped
past in the last 2 kilometers and wound up 3rd American, well behind
Howey, but almost a minute ahead of Mundy.

The top 4 Americans included Joanne Neustrand, Jeannie
Rice, Nancy Rollins, and Irene Taylor. Neustrand is definitely
a regular at Boston. In 2013 she finished 3rd in 65-69 with a
4:12:36 effort and came back a year later with a 4:21:30 for 19th
and in 2015 with a 4:25:43 and again 19th place. After waiting out a
year, she came back with a 4:26:48 and a 24th place in her final
year in 65-69. She would do better in 2018 she thought, at least in terms of
finishing position. Rice runs lots of marathons and many other races of varying
distances. Like many of her counterparts, she is devoted to Boston though. She
ran 3:46:49 in 2014, taking 3rd in 65-69. The following year she won
the division in 3:39:34. The next year was an off year by Rice’s standards as
she ran ran 3:54:06 and finished just off the podium/ Perhaps that is why she
skipped Boston in 2017? Rice was not idle; she ran 3 other marathons at least.
The best of those was her winning effort at the Columbus Marathon in 3:29:41.
Rollins has been a regular at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, winning
65-69 there in 2014 in 3:43:06 and in 2015 in 3:43:30. In her final year in the
division she finished 2nd in 3:46:04. 2017 was an off year as her
time skied to 4:01:35 although she did return to the top of the podium, albeit
in 70-74. Boston was a bit more up and down for Rollins; she finished 3rd
in 2015, running 3:48:55. She returned 2 years later with another subpar, by
her standards, effort, finishing 3rd in 4:23:44. She was determined
to do better in 2018. Taylor, by contrast, is not a regular at Boston. Hailing
from Alaska, she is a regular at the Anchorage Weekend Festival of Races,
although running the Half more commonly than the Marathon. She won the Skinny
Raven Half in 2013, 2014, and 2017, posting the same winning time of 2:05:13 in
both 2013 and 2017. She tried the marathon in 2015, finishing 2nd in
4:55:07. It would seem this should shape up as a duel between Rice and Rollins.

Rice was taking no prisoners as she laid it out in the first
10K in 47:14; it was 5 more minutes before Rollins crossed the mat, taking a
much more conservative approach. Neustrand was another 6 minutes back with
Taylor a further 6 minutes behind. Taylor was one fo the rare runners who ran a
negative split on the day. Covering the first half in 2:23:36 and the 2nd
half in 2:23:16. That stood her in good stead as as she almost made the podium,
finishing 4th. The early speed of the others left her too far back. Rollins
was the only one of the top 3 to run a faster 2nd half marathon on
the day. Neustrand ran strong enough to keep Taylor at bay, claiming 3rd
with over 8 minutes to spare. Up through the 35K it looked like there was no
contest for 1st as Rice had widened her lead over Rollins to nearly
17 minutes. But then as with so many other elite runners on the day, the
elements finally caught up with Rice; she had been clicking off her 5K’s in
31-33 minutes. From 35K to 40K, it took her over 45 minutes, and she lost 12
minutes of her lead to Rollins. Rice is a gritty runner, though, who would not
give up. Even though it took Rice another 23 minutes to cover the last 2
kilometers, she was determined to finish. Rollins passed her and took the win
with 2 minutes to spare. Rice took 2nd place and was almost
certainly brought directly to the medical tent.

The top 4 American contenders were Frank Bright, Myung Joon
Kim, Kenneth Neil, and John [‘Johnny-O’]
Ouweleen. Bright finished 2nd in the 70-74 division at the 2014
Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in 3:48:27 and the following spring ran 3:48:37
at Boston, finishing 10th. The following October at Twin Cities, his
time grew to 4:07:45, still good for 2nd though. The next year he
skipped both but returned to Boston in 2017 with a 4:21:24 for 30th
place in his last year in 70-74. Kim ran many marathons on the West Coast, most
around 4:30 or so. He decided to head east to try Boston but still ran the LA
Marathon in February 2016 in 4:16:48. Two months later he uncorked a 4:04:36 to
finish 14th in 70-74. Kim returned and ran a little faster in 2017,
clocking 4:02:18 for 9th place in the division. He wanted to be
ready for a strong effort for his first Boston try at the 75-79 division. A
regular at Boston the last few years, Neil ran 4:01:43 in 2015 to finish 22nd
in 70-74, followed by 4:18 and 21st in 2016 and 4:16:42 and 23rd
in 2017. Maybe 75-79 would treat him to a better finishing position. Ouweleen
has been a fixture of marathoning for many years and almost always runs Boston.
He skipped it in 2016 to run in the Virgin London Marathon. In 2013 he was 2nd
in 3:23:52 followed by a 70-74 division win in 2014 in 3:28:11. He took 3rd
in 2015 in 3:37:59 and then in 2016 enjoyed his trip to London, winning the 70-74
in 3:22:58. Ouweleen returned to Boston in 2017 for the warm conditions
resulting in a 4:05:41 and a rare finish off the Boston podium for his first try
at 75-79. Ouweleen took off with his usual aplomb, letting the downhills carry
him to a 50:28 for the first 10K and a 5-minute lead over Kim.

John Ouweleen during a training break photo: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/no-headline-tc_spt_runner_6c

Seven minutes
later Bright crossed the 10K mat, followed by Neil a minute later. Try as he
might the rest of the way, Neil could not close on Bright who ran a well-paced
race, covering the first half in 2:12 and the second half in 2:15. Bright took
the third spot on the podium with 16 minutes to spare. Ouweleen went through
the Half in 1:49:36 over 8 and a half minutes ahead of Kim. That was the
largest lead he would enjoy. By the 30K mark it was down to 7 minutes and it kept
coming down as Ouweleen’s 5K splits climbed from the 27-28-minute range up to
over 30. By 35K the lead was under 5 minutes. Both runners were struggling but
Kim not as much as Ouweleen. By the 40K Kim was within 16 seconds and continued
strong to take the win with 1:44 to spare as Ouweleen claimed 2nd by
almost 14 minutes.

The top 4 Women were all US Citizens: Jo Ann McCallister, Hansi
Rigney, Molly Sherwood, and Carol
Wright. McCalister finished 3rd in the Boston Marathon last year
with a 5:03:46 and ran the Boston Prep 16 miler in New Hampshire in late January
in 3:00:54; she was able to maintain fitness at least through mid-Winter. One
of the top Marathoners in the country and a regular at Boston, Rigney has finished
on the Age Division podium on Patriot’s Day in 2013 to 2017 except for 2016
when she finished 5th. She won 70-74 in 2013 in 4:15:57 and 75-79
last year in 4:53:58. She also won her age division at the Big Sur
International Marathon, Chicago and the California International Marathon, all
in faster times than her Boston win, unsurprisingly given the heat in Boston.
Sherwood has not been a regular at Boston but she had run the last two years.
In 2016 she finished 8th in 70-74 in 4:55:22 and finished 4th
75-79 in 2017 with a 5:06:37. Like Sherwood, Wright has recently become a Boston
regular, finishing 9th in 70-74 in 2016 with a 4:57:13 and returned
in 2017 to claim 5th in 75-79 in 5:26:21. It looked like this was
Rigney’s tyo lose. Considering how most favorites did, that might not have been
surprising.

As one might expect from these seasoned veterans, no one
blew up. But that meant that leads established early typically held all the way
to the finish line, with little drama. Rigney ran like the Champion she is, covering
the first 10K in 1:02:11; McCalister came across the mat 2 minutes later,
trailed by Wright 3 minutes later and Sherwood another 8 minutes back. Those
gaps all grew throughout the race with Rigney winning by over 20 minutes,
McCalister claiming 2nd with over 45 minutes to spare, and Wright taking
the final podium spot with a 25 minute margin on Sherwood. Rigni apparently
likes near gale conditions better than heat as she carved over half an hour out
of her 2017 time.

Our
international guests from Japan and Canada took the first 4 spots and 6yj, with
a German resident of Florida 5th:

The lone American entered, James Michie, has run many Marathons including Philadelphia in 2014
where he finished 5th 75-79 in 4:46:25. He tuned up for Boston by taking
3rd in 75-79 at the Chevron Houston Marathon in 4:54:45. The weather
was not kind, as we know, but Michie persevered and finished the race in
6:08:01. That was definitely a victory!

Three cheers for the Masters Runners who raced in Boston in
2018 and persevered all the way to the finish in near gale conditions.
Congratulations to one and all!

Friday, June 8, 2018

June 4 2018. ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN – The
early weather forecasts called for mostly sunny skies and 60 degree
temperatures. As we approached the weekend, the forecast started to include the
possibility of rain. By Sunday morning the forecast called for a band of heavy
rain to sweep through at 8 am, right when teams were supposed to check in at
the USATF tent. And it came right on schedule; the skies opened up and the rain
poured down. Luckily runners could seek shelter, as pre-arranged, at an
intermediate school in the staging area of the start. The heavy rain lasted
only ten minutes or so and there was ample time for teams to make it to the tent and
check in. The rain picked up a little again as the runners were
doing their final stride-outs. But once the race got under way, it was mostly
light rain or sprinkles, with mid-60’s temps and moderate wind, followed by
clearing for the end-of-the race celebrations. All-in-all, conditions were good
for the tour of the scenic rolling hills along the Huron River.

OVERALL INDIVIDUAL
CHAMPIONSHIPS

The race
to be first Masters Athlete across the finish line overall came down to a
terrific battle between Greg Mitchell
of Oregon’s Bowerman Track Club and David
Angell of Virginia’s Roanoke Valley Elite. The lead pack, consisting of
Angell, Matthew Folk, Jonathan Frieder,
Mitchell, Sam Teigen, and Olivier Vrambout, were taken out at a
brisk pace by Mitchell. Once they got onto the scenic 8 mile stretch of Huron
Drive, Angell, Mitchell, and Vrambout worked to establish a gap to the rest of
the pack. But Mitchell and Angell first pulled away from Vrambout, who was left
in no man’s land. Shortly thereafter Mitchell laid down a surge that Angell
could not match, pulling away to a lead that grew to 30 seconds by the ten mile
mark as Mitchell went through in 53:20. By
that time, Angell’s 53:53 gave him a minute and 20 seconds on Vrambout.
Vrambout, in his turn, had about a minute on a chasing pack of three: Folk,
Frieder and Teigen.To my surprise, alphabetical order and place order were the
same. Despite Folk having run two sub 1:14 Half Marathons in the last year, I
failed to see that he could run with Frieder and Teigen who had run so well at
the 8K and 10K National Championships this spring. At ten miles it was Folk in
56:12, with Frieder 8 seconds back and another 6 back to Teigen. Mitchell poured it on over the last 5K to pull
further ahead of Angell, breaking the tape in 1:10:36 to Angell’s 1:11:20. Run
Minnesota’s Vrambout toughed it out to complete the podium despite a strong
closing finish by Folk who cut the ten mile gap in half. Vrambout took 3rd
in 1:13:28, with Follk 4th in 1:13:58. Mitchell made it a successful
return from an extended injury period, winning his first national championship
since the 8K in Brea California in early 2016.

Greg Mitchell captures the Overall Win at the 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon National Championships hosted by the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run in Michigan [Photo Credit: Runphotos.com]

Angell just missed his 3rd
straight win on the Masters Grand Prix circuit but maintains a comfortable lead
for the 40-44 Grand Prix contest.

David Angell finishes in 2nd place Overall at the 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon National Championships hosted by the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run in Michigan [Photo Credit: Runphotos.com]

Vrambout conceded that this was perhaps one
race too many in a compressed time period. But landing on the podium in a
National Championship is memorable in itself. And there are many future
opportunities for Vrambout. Folk had a fine debut performance. Frieder and
Teigen showed they can run with the best in the Half Marathon and led their
Men’s 40 and up team to victory.

Gregory Mitchell
1:10:36David Angell 1:11:20Olivier Vrambout 1:13:28

Melissa Gacek, of the Twin Cities Track
Club, rolled to a comfortable win in 1:25:03 as the Women’s field split up
early with Gacek in the lead and a pack of chasers including Melissa Broyles, Doreen McCoubrie, and Michelle Simonaitis. Gacek’s coach had
directed her to run steady 6:20 splits but the rolling hills made that
difficult. In fact, Gacek noted that her splits were inconsistent, depending on
the extent of uphills and downhills within the mile. Nonetheless, she hit the
10-mile mark in 1:04:23 for a 6:26 per mile average, no small feat considering
she had no close competition. Simonaitis, the pride of Draper Utah, was the
closest of the chasing runners, and she was over 2 minutes back from Gacek.
Meanwhile McCoubrie was trying to stay close but had fallen a minute and a half
back from Simonaitis. Still she knew that Broyles might not be that far behind,
and she would have been right; Broyles was only 30 seconds back. A strong kick
over the last 5K could close that gap. Gacek had the fastest last 5K with a
20:40, to build her lead to nearly three minutes as she claimed victory in
1:25:03. Simonaitis came in smartly with a 21:04, giving her 2nd
place with two minutes to spare. McCoubrie was right to worry about Broyles’s
kick as Broyles did, indeed, cut into the margin. But McCoubrie was able to
tough it out and claim the final spot on the podium by 24 seconds in 1:30:11.
Broyles, in 4th, had over three minutes on the rest of the field.
This was Gacek’s 2nd National Championship as she added this crown
to the one she wore in 2016 at Tulsa in the 15K Masters Championship.

Melissa Gacek takes the Overall Win at the 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon National Championships hosted by the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run in Michigan [Photo Credit: Runphotos.com]

Simonaitis has now returned to the top flight of Masters Women runners after
taking a short break from National Championships in the middle of the decade.

Michelle Simonaitis finishes in 2nd place Overall at the 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon National Championships hosted by the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run in Michigan [Photo Credit: Runphotos.com]

McCoubrie managed an Overall podium finish at the age of 56, quite an accomplishment.

Age-Grade
scoring is the best way to compare performance by age across all Masters competitors.
Each competitor’s time is assigned a score that is linked ot the statistically
projected World’s Best time for the distance for a woman or man of their age.
The score is 100 if the performance matches the projected World’s Best; if
slower, the score falls. The following identifications are often made: 90% and
up ‘World Class,’ 85% -89.99% ‘International Class’, and 80-84.99% ‘National
Class.’ The Masters LDR Committee recognizes these distinctions in awarding
Gold, Silver, and Bronze Elite Performance Medals for the relevant performance
levels. The top 3 age grade scores for men and for Women merit gold, silver,
and bronze commemorative medals and the top 5 age grade performers among the
Men and the Women win cash prizes at this event. There were terrific
perfomances and very close contests for both Women and Men.

Suzanne Ray, 66,of Oregon’s Team Red Lizard, took the Women’s crown by running
1:42:55 for an 89.06. This is her first Age-Grading Championship. Ray has been
‘knocking on the door’ in recent Championships, taking 5th at the 8K
and 4th at the 15K last year.

Suzanne Ray gave all she had to capture the age-grading crown, her Age Division title and lead her team to the 60 and up team title at the 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon National Championships hosted by the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run in Michigan [Photo Credit: Runphotos.com]

Patrice
Combs, 60, was only .27% behind with her 1:34:50 time, after finishing 4th in age-grading at the 10K in Dedham.

Patrice Combs finishes in 2nd place Age-Grading at the 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon National Championships hosted by the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run in Michigan [Photo Credit: Runphotos.com]

Doreen McCoubrie,
56, finished off the Age-Grading podium by recording a 1:30:11 that age-graded
at 88.57. That gives McCoubrie her second podium finish in two tries, along
with her third at Virginia Beach. Michelle
Simonaitis, 52, who ran 1:28:02 for an 86.29 and Ray’s Team Red Lizard
teammate, Jeanette Groesz, 68, who
ran 1:53:01 for 83.57, took home 4th and 5th place prize
money.

Club
Northwest’s Rick Becker had the top
Men’s score. Becker, 63, ran 1:20:18 for a World Class Age Grade of 91.45.

Rick Becker captured the age-grading crown at the 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon National Championships hosted by the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run in Michigan [Photo Credit: Runphotos.com]

Becker’s
Coaching duties at Track and Field and Cross Country have limited his entries
in National Championships, but he has made them count when he fits them in. He
took 2nd in the Men’s 60+ race at Club XC last December, 2nd
at the 8K in Brea 2016, and in the 10K at Dedham the same year. This medal will
go alongside the one he won at the 2016 XC Nationals in Bend OR. Gene Dykes, 70, of the Greater
Philadelphia Track Club, pushed him with a 1:26:34 that age-graded only .37 of
a percent lower.

Gene Dykes finishes in 2nd place Age-Grading at the 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon National Championships hosted by the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run in Michigan [Photo Credit: Runphotos.com]

That is his second consecutive 2nd place age-grade,
after finishing behind Nat Larson at
Dedham. Dave Walters, 62, of Lisle
Illinois, was less than a full point back in third, having run 1:20:37 for
90.21. Roger Sayre, 60, who ran 1:19:07 for a 90.18, and the overall
winner, Mitchell, 44, who scored 87.77, took home prize money for 4th
and 5th age-grade scores.

AGE DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS

40-44

As the top 5
overall Men’s finishers came from this age division, the summary of the Overall
Championships provides the details for this division.

Gregory
Mitchell
1:10:35David Angell 1:11:20Olivier Vrambout 1:13:28

The Overall Winner,
Melissa Gacek, came from this
division, as did 4th place finisher, Melissa Broyles. In this renewal of the battle of the two
Melissa’s,Gacek enjoyed a bigger
margin over Broyles in this contest than she had in the 5th 3rd
River Bank Run a few weeks earlier. Gacek had a 4 min8ute margin over Broyles
in that race. Here the margin was a bit over 5 minutes. Broyles had almost 20
minutes on the 3rd place finisher (from Ann Arbor), Lauren Kachorek.

Melissa
Gacek1:25:03Melissa Broyles 1:30:35Lauren Kachorek 1:49:55

45-49

This was
projected to be a duel between Garden State Track Club’s Jonathan Frieder and Philippe
Rolly; Rolly beat Frieder by 12 seconds in the 8K Championship in March and
by 2 seconds in the 10K Championship at the end of April. Would this have been
Frieder’s breakthrough against Rolly? Perhaps, but we will not find out. Rolly,
either because of injury, duty, or other possibilities, was not able to run the
race. Frieder is quite dominant on the roads in this age division right now
against all except the very top runners. And he proved it again, forging a 3
minute margin over Atlanta’s Brent Fields
by the 10 mile mat and brought home the win in 1:14:20. Fields, in turn, built
a 6 minute gap back to the 3rd runner in the division, Eric Green, by the 10 mile mark, and
added to it over the last 3 miles as he claimed 2nd.

Jonathan
Frieder
1:14:20Brent Fields 1:18:22Eric Green 1:26:52

When the
Genesee Valley Harriers were unable to field a complete team for the Women’s
40+ division, the two runners who had entered decided not to make the trip.
That left Erin Larusso, the Ann
Arbor Track Club runner from Ypsilanti Michigan, unopposed. Larusso took the
win with a nicely paced race.

Erin
Larusso
1:38:20

50-54

I had this
division pegged as a duel among GVH’s Alan
Evans, Playmakers Elite’s Eric
Stuber, and the Ann Arbor Track Club’s Paul
Mayer. Those were all good picks; unfortunately I overlooked Evans’s
teammate, Mike Nier, who is GVH’s mainstay
at distances from a mile up through the 10K. I had not seen a recent race for
him at the Half Marathon distance or greater, so undervalued his potential. I
saw that Nier had run 3:23:14 at Boston in 2017. That was under very warm
conditions, so the time was not a good indicator of fitness for long distance.
All ran strong races but Nier gradually established his dominance in the middle
stretch of the rolling hills along Huron Drive. He crossed the ten mile mat in 1:00:41,
with over a half minute lead on Stuber. Stuber, in turn, had a little over half
a minute on Mayer and Evans who were separated by only two seconds. Nier powered
all the way to the finish where he enjoyed a final margin of over a minute on
Stuber who finished 2nd. The duel between Mayer and Evans ended with
Evans steaming away for a commanding lead by the time they had traversed the
last long hill into the finish. Evans was one of the few runners who was able
to accelerate his pace over the last 5 kilometers; it gave him the final podium
spot. Mayer could not stay within a half minute of Evans but he kept a two
minute margin on Dale Flanders, who
finished 5th.

Mike
Nier
1:20:21Eric Stuber 1:21:32Alan Evans 1:21:57

Michelle Simonaitis, who finished 2nd overall,
ran away with the division, creating a 7minute gap on the field by the 10-mile
mark and adding to it over the last 5 kilometers for a fine victory. Atlanta’s Kris Huff, and GVH’s Carol Bischoff were the two main
contenders for the remainder of the podium. Huff gradually pulled away on Huron
Drive, opening up a minute and a half lead over Bischoff as she hit the mat in
1:13:32. Huff almost doubled that margin, as she was able to finish strongly up
the hill and into the finish. Bischoff enjoyed a 7 minute lead at the tape over
Atlanta’s Susan Welch who finished 4th.

Michelle
Simonaitis
1:28:02Kris Huff 1:36:43Carol Bischoff 1:39:36

55-59

I had this
correctly as a battle between Connecticut’s Jim Zoldy and Garden State’s Gary
Leaman but my research skated on by Rick
Torres, in error. I should have noted at least that he ran 1:22:04 in the
Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon at the end of April. That would certainly
have focused my attention on Torres as one of the favorites. In any case, Zoldy
certainly ran like the favorite, carving out nearly a two-minute lead on the
field by the ten-mile marker. It was much tighter for 2nd and 3rd
as Torres held a half minute lead on Leaman. Leaman, in the meantime, was
holding the rest of the field at bay; no one else was closer than 5 minutes at
the ten mile clock. All three runners held their pace well over the last 5
kilometers. Zoldy hit the finish line with a little over two minutes to spare
back to Torres who, in turn, had 50 seconds on Leaman. Tim Lambrecht, Jaime Hartges, and Jeff Rothstein finished a tightly packed 4th, 5th
and 6th , all finishing within a minute of each other 8 minutes back
from Leaman.

Jim
Zoldy
1:21:05Rick Torres 1:23:11Gary Leaman 1:24:01

Finishing 3rd
overall, Doreen McCoubrie had no
trouble leaving her division rivals behind. By the ten-mile mark she had a 4
and a half minute gap on the field. But there were tight races for 2nd
and 3rd and for 4th and 5th. Beth Ann Deciantis and Kelly Dworak were locked together
heading down Huron Drive. Deciantis gradually grew a half minute lead by the
ten-mile mark. Dworak was close; if she had saved extra for the final 5
kilometers, it could get interesting. Both runners stayed on pace though and
Deciantis crossed the line 6 minutes behind McCoubrie, but with almost a minute
to spare back to Dworak. Ann Arbor’s Nancy
Schubring had built a 3-minute lead on the Impala’s Janet Smith by the ten-mile mat. Ordinarily that would be enough. But
then the wheels came off for Schubring as her pace slowed and she faced the
long uphill to the finish. Smith was probably unaware of the change but
continued her steady pace, feeling good that she had saved enough to power up
the final hill. In the end, Smith had taken two and a half minutes out of
Schubring’s lead, a fine finishing job. But Schubring held tough up the final
hill and across the line to claim 4th in 1:41:36.

I knew this
division was loaded. As noted above, the top 3 runners in this division took 3
of the top 4 age-grading prizes; the next two finished just out of the prize
money in 6th and 7th—wow! Roger Sayre had broken 1:20 in a couple of Half Marathons last year
and he looked like he was intent on doing it again. He cracked past the ten-mile
clock in 3 ticks under an hour. But Rick
Becker was only 41 seconds back, on pace also for a sub-1:20, and Dave Walters, in 3rd within
striking distance another 33 seconds back. Three minutes back, Dave Burkhart, the noted triathlete,
had a minute gap on a 3-man chase pack of Ann Arbor TC’s Michael Young, Norm Larson
of Vermont, and Shore AC’s Reno Stirrat,
all within 27 seconds of one another. Sayre powered through to the end,
enjoying another sub 1:20 Half Marathon, hitting the finish line in 1:19:07.
Becker hoped, no doubt, to close over the last 5 kilometers but found his pace
flagging a bit. But the good work put in over the first ten miles plus his
tenacity was sufficient to keep Walters at bay. Walters cut into Becker’s lead
but in the end it was still a comfortable 19 seconds. Burkhart’s pace suffered
the most of these top athletes but, like the triathlete he is, was able to keep
the other contenders behind him as he fiished 3 minutes back from Walters. Young
closed strong, taking 24 seconds out of Burkhart’s lead but he was still 44
seconds back, followed by Larson and Stirrat in 6th and 7th.
Seven 60-64 runners finished under 1:27—amazing!

Roger
Sayre
1:19:07Rick Becker 1:20:18Dave Walters 1:20:37

Just like in
the 10K Masters Championship at the end of April, Patrice Combs owned this division, building a 9 minute lead in the
first ten miles and finishing it off with style and taking the win with a lead
of well over 10 minutes on the field. Meanwhile the Team Red Lizard teammates, Lynn Bernot and Joanna Harper, were clicking off the miles. Bernot crossed the
10-mile clock in 1:20:59, with Harper three minutes back. Chasing those two
were Ann Arbor TC teammates, Mary
Aseltyne, and Carol Poenisch,
who passed the 10-mile clock 4 minutes and 6 minutes after Harper. All four
stayed on pace so the margins grew slightly over the last 5 kilometers except
that Poenisch creeped a little closer to her teammate, finishing only 1:34 back
at the finish line. Bernot claimed 2nd in 1:08:01 with Harper in 3rd
place, four minutes back, keeping a gap of over 4 minutes back to Aseltyne who
finished 4th.

Patrice
Combs 1:34:50Lynn Bernot 1:48:01Joanna Harper 1:52:07

65-69

This
division, too, was tightly contested with the top 4 finishing within 5 minutes
of each other. Heath Hibbard,
thefleet trail runner out of Colorado,
was the favorite based on his 1:03:10 at the 15K Masters Championship in Tulsa
last October. It appeared he could well break 1:30. Hibbard certainly ran the
first ten miles as if he planned on breaking 1:30, passing the ten-mile clock
in 1:07:00. John Hiirschberger ran
1:34:31 at the HM Championships last year but I downgraded his chances based on
a relatively slower 1:14:20 effort at the Norcal 10 Miler earlier this spring.
That time suggested he might not be fit to run much faster than 1:4. I figured Terry McCluskey would be closer to the
low 1:30’s as he ran 1:11:06 in the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. Hirschberger
showed that the Norcal race was either an off day for him or perhaps one he was
just running as a training run. In fact, he was running faster than last year, only
two minutes back from Hibbard, running the first ten miles of this HM five
minutes faster than he ran the Norcal 10 Miler. Perry Linn, from Iowa in his first National Championship outing,
was only 13 seconds back from Hirschberger, and the better part of a minute
ahead of McCluskey. With just over a minute between 2nd and 4th
with 5 kilometers to go, the podium would turn on who had the most left.
Hibbard had no trouble over the last part of the race, claiming first while
stretching his lead to almost 3 minutes. Hirschberger was not able to stretch
his lead but was able to take 2nd with an ample one minute lead over
the third place finisher. One of the few reversals of fortune on the day took
place as McCluskey had a strong last 5K and Linn struggled; McCluskey took 3rd
with a half minute to spare. But there is no shame in a 4th place
finish in a national championship on one’s first outing. And Linn kept several
strong National Championship veterans behind him in the race. There was one
other outstanding performance in this age division that does not jump out form
the results listing. When I saw Jerry
Learned before the race, I observed KT tape all over the front of his legs.
His new dog is apparently very excitable about getting down the stairs and out
the front door. A few days before the race, the dog lunged down, catching
Learned off guard, and he was dragged down the stairs, acquiring the injuries
that required the tape. No race for him, right? Then you do not know Jerry.
When the Atlanta Track Club calls, he answers! You need one more runner for a
40+ team tyo get points from the Half Marathon. “Count me in if all you need is
for someone who can run and finish, not go fast.” And run he did. It must have
been painful. Ordinarily he would be running the race well under 1:40, perhaps
under 1:35. It took him over two hours—Now that’s a teammate’s teammate!

Heath
Hibbard
1:28:47John Hirschberger
1:31:40Terry McCluskey 1:32:46

Team Red
Lizard had the two entrants in this division. Both Suzanne Ray and Jeanette
Groesz have been running strongly over the last year at National
Championships. Ray has generally had faster times although the age difference
means Groesz sometimes had the age grading edge. In the 10K Championship at
Dedham, however, Ray finished behind her teammate, and with a slower time than
anticipated. Was that just an off day or was there some lingering injury issue?
Ray certainly put that question to rest over the first ten miles as she passed
the digital clock at the ten-mile mark in 1:17:34, seven minutes ahead of
Groesz. Ray carried her pace strongly into the finish, winning with a margin of
just over ten minutes.

Suzanne
Ray
1:42:55Jeanette Groesz 1:53:01

70-74

Right now, Gene Dykes is enjoying life, running
pretty much any distance he chooses from 3000 meters to 100 kilometers on the
track on the roads or on the trails. He broke the Men’s 70 and up American
Record for the Marathon with a 2:57:43 at Rotterdam in early April and broke
the Men’s 70-74 American Record for the 10K at the end of April with a 39:02.
In early February he had won his age division in the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile
Trail Run in just under 24 hours. If your jaw is dropping right now, join the
club! He was a strong favorite to take this division by a ton and he did not
disappoint. He crossed the 10-Mile mat in 1:06:17 with a four minute lead on a
remarkable runner in his own right, Lloyd
Hansen, the 2014 Men’s 65-69 Road Runner of the Year. After dealing with
some sciatica and other issues, Hansen is on the comeback trail. Not quite all
the way back, he is still formidable. Hansen had a 5 minute lead on Dave Glass who took three 70-74
National Championships last fall at distances from 5K to 15K on the roads and
the XC turf. Glass, in turn, had five minutes on the rest of the filed. With
such separation, it is not surprising that is the finishing order also. Dykes
pushed his lead to 6 minutes by the time he crossed the finish line; Hansen
upped his margin over Glass to 6:45. Paul
Carlin [That’s me!], was over 7 minutes back in 4th. I have been
trying to shake a left hamstring issue for over two years and finally have
nearly done so. But my conditioning is way off. I hope to be closer to Glass
and the others in the fall, but time will tell. Przemek Nowicki and Curttis
Walker were another 2 and a half minutes back in 5th and 6th.

Gene
Dykes
1:26:34Lloyd Hansen 1:32:34Dave Glass 1:39:19

75-79

The only
runner Robert Hendrick has to worry
about in this division, even on an off day, is Doug Goodhue, who bested him at the 10K Championships in Dedham at
the end of April on what Hendrick described as an ‘awful’ day of running for
him. Hendrick was only talking about the quality of his run. He acknowledges
that Goodhue is a great champion and will have no trouble winning championships
once fully recovered from injury. Goodhue, of course, was otherwise occupied on
this day, being the Race Director. As this was his last hurrah, it will be
different next year; it will be great to see him out on the Dexter-Ann Arbor
course again. Even though Hendrick had another off day as he was having foot
problems, he still passed the 10 mile mat in 1:23:25 with a 7-minute lead on
the field. Despite his difficulties, he kept most of that margin all the way to
the finish line, crossing in first with a 6 minute gap back tothe field. Charlie Patterson and David
Cohen were engaged in a fierce battle for 2nd and 3rd.
The issue was still undecided at the 10-mile mark even though Patterson had
begun to pull away. Cohen was only 46 seconds back from Patterson’s 1:30:50,
close enough so that if Patterson ran into trouble on the closing hill or if
Cohen had saved more for the end game, there was time for a reversal. Instead.
Patterson had the stronger finish as he pulled away on the final hill to enjoy
a final margin of almost 3 minutes. Andrew
Sherwood, the ‘Dean’ of the 75-79 HM competitors at age 78, finished in 4th.

Robert
Hendrick 1:54:51Charlie Patterson 2:00:39David Cohen 2:03:29

TEAMS

Even though
there were not as many teams entered as we expect at shorter distances, there
were still plenty of spirited contests.

40 and up

The Garden State Track Club-New Balance had
a genuine complete team entered while Atlanta had a ‘let’s get some points for
finishing’ team. Atlanta started with Brent
Fields, 46, who usually competes on the 40’s team and added Mike Anderson, 61, and Jerry Learned, 69, from their 60’s
team. Garden State is formidable and would be tough to eat even if other
genuine 40’s teams showed up. They added this title to their win at the 8K and
their podium finish at the ultra-competitive 10K National Championships in
Dedham. Garden State had Jonathan Frieder
1:14:20, Sam Teigen 1:14:58, and Aaron Cooper combining for the win with
a 1:16:04 average; that’s cooking!

Garden
State Track Club-New Balance 3:48:12Atlanta Track Club 4:52:41

A
fight between the Genesee Valley Harriersand the Ann Arbor Track Clubwas
anticipated in the days leading up to race day. GVH had two runners entered who
typically run on their 40+ team, Caroline
Bucci and Melissa Senall.Surely they would find a third runner to
field a complete time by packet pickup. Ann Arbor was scurrying to put a team
together but they were successful by the end of packet pickup.To my surprise GVH was not able to get a third runner for a 40+ team and saved Bucci and Senall the trouble of a trip to Michigan.That meant Ann Arbor only needed 3 of their 5 members to finish to win the day. It was a much better effort than that! Ann Arbor TC took the title with scoring members Melissa Broyles 1:30:35, Erin Larusso 1:38:20, and Nancy Schubring 1:41:36. Mary Aseltine and Carol Poenisch were not that far back as insurance n case any of the top 3 faltered.

Ann Arbor Track Club 4:50: 31

50 and up

The Ann Arbor Track Club, the Genesee Valley Harriers, and the Playmakers Elite-New Balance all had a strong horse to lead the way but which team woul dhave the depth to take the team title?GVH's Mike Nier was the fastest of the three leaders with a 1:20:21, followed by Eric Stuber of Playmakers in 1:21:32, with Paul Mayer leading the way for Ann Arbor with a 1:22:35. But a 1 minute or even a 2 minute lead after the first runners are in is not necessarily enough cushion to guarantee a team win. Depth is critical, and GVH had it. Their #2 runner, Alan Evans, came in just 25 seconds behind Stuber, giving them a strong 1-2 punch. After Mayer, the next runner in also wore the GVH singlet, Dale Flanders, coming across the finish line before either of the #2 runners for Ann Arbor or Playmakers. That gave GVH the team championship, and left Ann arbor and Playmakers to fight over the remaining podium positions. When Ann arbor's #2, Brian Zubatch, came in 3 and a half minutes ahead of the Playmakers #2, Tim Lambrecht, things were looking good. But as the Baseball Philosopher, Berra said, "It isn't over until it's over." Playmakers #3, Jaime Hartges, finished just a half minute after Lambrecht. That gave them a chance...but 14 seconds later it was over as Ann Arbor's #3, Jeff Rothstein came in to finish off their scoring. GVH won with a 1:22:21 average, followed by Ann Arbor in 2nd, averaging 1:28:00, and Playmakers 3rd averaging 1:28:44. Ann Arbor also ran a 'B' team consisting of Brian Harreld, Tassos Valtadoros, and Eric Barr that averaged just over 1:40 in 4th place.

I had the Impala Racing Team pegged as the favorites but then their #1 runner, Dana Blum, did not show up. The other change from the expectation was that Atlanta chose not to field a 60 and up Women's team, allowing Patrice Combs to drop down and be the lead runner on the 50 and up team. Combs was the first #1 runner to finish at 1:34:50. followed by GVH's Beth Anne Deciantis a minute and a half later. When Atlanta's Kris Huff finished just a half minute behind Deciantis, that left Atlanta looking good for the win. Still, when Carol Bischoff finished just 3 minutes after Huff that gave GVH a little hope; they were 4 minutes back but a strong showing in the #3 slot could overcome that. But not today. The Impala's #1 runner, Janet Smith, came in next but then Atlanta's Maureen Martin finished almost two minutes ahead of GVH's reliable #3, Colleen Magnussen. That gave the win to Atlanta with a 1:38:58 average as GVH took 2nd with a 1:40:59 average. Once Smith's teammates, Teresa Quan and Irene Suzuki finished, Impala claimed 3rd with a 1:49:58 average.

Atlanta Track Club 4:56:52 GVH 5:02:57 Impala Racing Team 5:29:52

60 and up

Not only did the Boulder Road Runners have the top #1 in Roger Sayre, they had stronger #2 and #3 runners also; Boulder dominated. Sayre finished anywhere from 6 to 9 minutes ahead of the #1 runners for other teams when he finished in 1:19:07. When Boulder's #2 and #3 runners, Martin Lascelles and Heath Hibbard, finished just 6 seconds apart in 1:28:41 and 47 respectively, ahead of the #2 runners for all other teams, that slammed the door. Boulder had the win with a 1:25:32 average. The race for the remaining podium spots was a real shootout between Ann Arbor, New Jersey's Shore AC, and GVH.Michael Young drew first blood, coming in at 1:25:52 but Shore's Reno Stirrat came in less than a minute later. If either Ann Arbor's or Shore's #2 could come in before GVH's #1, that would pretty well shut out GVH. But not this time, as Mark Rybinski, on the comeback trail after rehabbing a hamstring injury for well over a year, trailed Stirrat by just a minute and a half. Shore got the edge back from Ann Arbor when their Kevin Dollard came in a minute and a half ahead of Ann Arbor's Terry McCluskey. GVH still wasn't out of it though as their #2, Kevin Clinefelter, was the next runner in, two minutes back from McCluskey. GVH needed the next finisher to be theirs though. But not this time as Scott Linnell came in for Shore AC and closed the door on both Ann Arbor and GVH, taking 2nd team honors with an average of 1:31:45. Hugh Kuchta was next across the line, netting the 3rd place finish for Ann Arbor, averaging 1:33:26. GVH's Doc Rappole had a strong run, finishing a few minutes later, leaving GVH just off the podium with an average of 1:35:58.

I had expected Atlanta to challenge Oregon's Team Red Lizard for this division title but n such luck. The Red Lizards won it unopposed, adding it to their first place finish at the 8K and their 2nd place at the 10K where they faced tougher opposition. Suzanne Ray led the way with a 1:42:55, followed by Lynn Bernot in 1:48:01, and Joanna Harper in 1:52:07. That gave them an average of 1:47:41.

Team Red Lizard 5:23:03

70 and up

In my preview I speculated that Ann Arbor's Lloyd Hansen could stay with or come in ahead of Atlanta's Dave Glass. If that happened and I [Paul Carlin, Ann Arbor TC] could manage to stay ahead of Atlanta's #2, that should leave our teammate, David Cohen in a good position to close out the win for us.Hansen is on the comeback trail; at last year's HM Championship, he managed a 1:35:51 and then lost to Glass by a half minute at Tulsa. The 12K he ran earlier this spring on a tough 12K course suggested he could run 1:35 or 1:34 and that is about where I figured Glass would slide in. As it turned out, Hansen's last few w3eks of training must have gone very well as he ran two minutes faster than I expected. When Glass ran into some problems and finished over 6 minutes back from Hansen, Ann Arbor was in good shape. I had hoped to break 1:45 but I was not ready for that. Still, my 1:46:48 brought me across the finish line 2:43 ahead of Atlanta's #2, Curtis Walker, giving Cohen over 9 minutes to work with. As the 75-79 recap above indicated, Cohen and Atlanta's Charlie Patterson were locked in a tight battle for podium honors. Patterson won the battle for 2nd individual honors in 75-79 but Cohen stayed within three minutes, closing the door on 1st place. Ann Arbor averaged 1:47:37 to Atlanta's 1:49:50.

Ann Arbor Track Club 5:22:51 Atlanta Track Club 5:29:29

Next up on
the Masters Grand Prix circuit is the USATF Masters 5K Championship hosted by
the Atlanta Track Club’s Atlanta’s Finest
5K, on Saturday, August 18 in Atlanta Georgia. The Atlanta Track Club is
one of the premier Track Clubs in the country. Do not miss this exciting event!